The recording opens with the Violin Concerto in g, Op. 67 by Miecszyslaw Weinberg (1919-1996). …This is easily a concerto that can stand alongside the more familiar Prokofiev works and provide excellent opportunities for virtuosity. Schmid tackles this work quite well adding just the right bite when needed, but really bringing out the beautiful lyricism of this excellent work.

There are two works by Kabalevsky featured on the album. The first is the Fantasy in f (1961) which is based on Schubert’s 1828 piano-four hand work (D940). This is essentially an opportunity to explore orchestration and this is what Kabalevsky does to great effect. He turns Schubert’s little fantasy into a Russian piano concerto, complete with a third-movement cadenza. Written for Emil Gilels, who recorded the work as well, it is essentially a completely new piece that at times sounds like what a composer might create for a modern film. As such it is quite a curiosity that it great pops material. Pianist Claire Huangci fortunately understands this connection more to Rachmaninov perhaps than Schubert and the sort of semi-improvisational style that is necessary when it comes to her beautifully-rendered cadenza.